


Purpose

by Kayjp



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21971725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayjp/pseuds/Kayjp
Summary: What happens when Josie is the first one to find out about the merge. How will she act and react around those she cares about and how will this affect those around her.
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 64
Kudos: 211





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this idea popped up a while ago so I decided to give a try and write something.   
> I hope u like this story and Im sorry for any grammar mistakes - English isn't my first language

Josie Saltzman’s life changed 3 months ago, if you had asked her about her life before that. She would have told you that she was close to her sister as one could be, she had the best of friends someone could ask for and she had the most amazing girlfriend, her soulmate, the love of her life even though she is only 16 years old, Josie knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Penelope Park. 

So what changed?   
Josie was looking for her father, so the first place she would check was his office off course. She thought she would surprise him with cookies she had baked since he had been so busy.  
But to her surprise when she entered the office it was empty, she thought that she would just leave the cookies for him. 

But then her eyes landed on a book about the Gemini coven and Josie’s curiosity rose. Her and Lizzie were the only ones left of the Gemini lineage, her dad had told her some stories about the coven, but it wasn’t much to satisfy Josie. Her eyes began to study the page with the headline “the merge”.   
Josie’s eyes began to study the page, her eyes widened when she read the words, “The stronger twin survives the spell and is empowered by their magic as well as the magic of their twin. The weaker twin, however, is drained of their magic and dies.”.  
After she read that, her chest began to tighten, her hands were trembling over the page and her vision became blurry, she felt her body heat rise and the she sank to the floor. Josie didn’t know how much time had passed before she eventually was able to steady herself and get up.

She was now pacing back and forth in the office, “this can’t be right, this can’t be happening. I need to tell Lizzie, there must be a solution, a way out of this”.  
Josie heard a sound that broke her out of her trance, turned around to see where the noise came from “Mg” she whisper yelled, Mg had used his vamp speed running all over the school looking for Josie, “it’s Lizzie”, and by that Josie knew what Mg meant, “take me to her Mg”. 

Josie finds Lizzie in the kitchen, overwhelmed with emotion, using her magic to throw around furniture and plates, whereas she manages to shatter most of the school’s plates. Lizzie in rage, almost hits Josie, but she was able to stop it. “Hey Liz”, Josie says and walks over to her to comfort her. 

…

Josie finally returned to her room, her mind wondering back to what she had read earlier, she couldn’t muster the courage to tell Lizzie about the merge. She instead laid awake for multiple hours thinking about what she should do with the information. Josie finally came to the conclusion that she needed someone to hold her before she completely breaks down. She stood out of her bed and made way to her safe heaven, in the arms of her girlfriend. 

*Knock knock*

As soon as the door opened, Josie ran into Penelope’s arms and broke down, she was crying, her eyes were like a waterfall, tears streaming down nonstop. Before Penelope couldn’t comprehend anything that was happening, she just wrapped her arms around Josie as it were a reflex.   
Penelope didn’t ask her, she knew that Josie would eventually tell her the reason to why she was crying in the middle of the night. Penelope had her arms wrapped around Josie the whole night, holding her tight, just as Penelope was Josie world, Josie was hers.

* Present time – 3 months later *  
Josie was walking through the cafeteria towards the empty table she had spotted in the corner. Josie’s eyes were scanning the cafeteria looking for a certain vamp as her gaze fell upon the table where she used to sit at. She met light blue eyes, shifted to cold blue ones and ending with staring right into emerald green eyes. Unlike 3 months ago, Josie was no longer close to her best friend, her sister nor had she a girlfriend anymore.   
Josie breaks the eye contact with the raven haired witch after she felt a tap on her shoulder, “come on Jo, let’s go”, Mg had finally showed up and they were now walking towards the table in the corner. 

“Jo, do you still want to continue with the plan, I know you miss them a lot. I notice how you look at them and I know that you’re hurting. I can see it on you, you can’t keep continue doing this, you have to tell them”, Mg said as they finally sat down. 

Josie took a bite of her peanut butter and jam sandwich before answering, “yes, the plan is still on and I’m fine and you don’t have to worry about me. And I would also kindly remind you that I will burn you to ashes, if you’re not careful with that mouth of yours”, Josie said with an empty and tired expression. Mg knew, she wouldn’t change her mind, so he dropped the subject for now.

* 3 months ago *

Since Josie had found out about the merge, she started her own research, looking through every history or magic book, she could find. Which didn’t help her at all, there weren’t that many books containing the information, she was looking for. And those she did find that could help her with the answers she was looking for, well those pages were ripped out of the book. Josie knew she had to be careful, so no one could find out that she knew about the merge. 

She had to be very careful, she knew Lizzie or Hope wouldn’t ask questions and when they finally did, she would always tell that she had to study.

The hard part was lying to her girlfriend. Penelope could always see right through Josie, So every time Penelope was hanging with her friends or other people that weren’t Josie, she would use those opportunities to do some research.   
Josie was currently sitting in the library at a table hidden between the bookshelves, a place she couldn't be disturbed. The amount of progress Josie has made was zero. She hadn't found any answers to her questions and she couldn’t ask her parents. 

* Ding *  
Josie looked at her phone,  
Pen<3: Hey Baby, do you want to come to my room and watch a movie?   
Josie hadn’t been hanging so much with Penelope these last days, so she decided that she would say yes because she could really use a break from all of this, besides she had missed the warm embrace and the sweet kisses from her girlfriend.

Jojo<3: I’ll be there in 5.

Josie arrived at Penelope’s dorm room and knocked. As soon as Penelope opened the door, Josie starred at her in admiration, she was wearing short shorts and a tank top, her choice of clothing was exposing her toned legs and arms. “Well are you going to stare all day or are you gonna come in?”, Penelope chuckled. 

“It’s not my fault, my girlfriend is beautiful”, Josie answered while she entered the room and gave a lustful kiss, but before anything more could happen, she pulled away. “So I was thinking do you want to see The Blind Side, it’s with Sandra Bullock, you know, your celebrity crush”, Penelope said.

“Sure let’s watch it”, and with that Penelope pulled Josie onto the bed. They were cuddling the whole time the moving was playing and after the movie ended, Penelope closed the laptop and sat up. “Pen is everything alright?”, Josie asked. 

“Yeah I’m fine, I was just wondering if you would like to talk about what happened and don’t say you don’t want to talk about it or it isn’t my business because it is. Jo you’re my girlfriend whom I love very much and I have never seen you like that, so talk to me”, Josie opened her mouth to say something, but closed her mouth again, she didn’t know how to respond, since she obviously couldn’t tell her the truth. So she had to lie, which she hates or just the part were she is lying to Penelope. 

“I have been feeling very stressed lately mostly because of school, all of the extracurricular activities, my dad makes me doing, the fact that I always have to be the headmaster’s perfect daughter and I really miss my mom. Every time I try to bring her up, my dad keeps shutting it down”, “oh Jojo, come here”, Penelope pulled her in a hug and after a minute or so she pulled away, grabbed Josie face a hand on each cheek, looking into Josie eyes, remember you’ll always have me and you don’t have to change for me or act as the perfect daughter. I love you Josie Saltzman, I love your flaws and everything else about you, don’t ever forget that” after she said that Josie closed the gap between them. “I love you too Penelope Park, always and forever”.


	2. Chapter 2

No one's POV

Caroline has been traveling all over the world looking for a cure to stop the merge. The only solution she could find was that if one of the twins turn so that they will become a heretic.  
She told this to Alaric, who reacted very badly to the news, she told him that this was the only solution, they had been searching for 10 years.   
10 freaking years and nothing, Caroline thought that was the best option to stop the merge. And that way both girls would be alive.  
Caroline and Alaric had a big fight that day about it and it ended with Caroline leaving Mystic Falls and never once had she been back ever since.   
No one knew why she left that day and why she hasn’t been back home since except Alaric. The news broke the twins since they were very close to their mother.

Josie was in Alaric’s office looking for anything that could tell her where her mother was. She searched the bookshelves, the desk and so on until she finally found Alaric’s diary. She used a spell to find all of the pages where Caroline’s name was mentioned.   
As she was reading the different pages, she finally found the page she was looking for.

“I can’t believe she dared to come here and suggest that we turn the girls to a heretic. I’m well aware that I’m not the biggest fan of vampires or that’s how I used to feel. But they are my girls, my sweet little girls, I can’t lose one of them. So I did what a good father would do to protect my girls. I sent Caroline away, it might not have been one of the best decisions that I have made, but I don’t regret it. I can see that the girls miss their mom a lot, I can see it on their faces and every time I see it, I can feel the guilt rise in me. I know that Caroline is somewhere in Europe continuing her search for another cure”. 

Josie was fuming after she had read that, how could he turn her away, just because he didn’t agree with her, besides it’s was not his choice to make, they had a solution for the merge, it may not have been a cure, but at least both she and Lizzie would be alive. 

… 

*2 months later *

Josie made a plan to finally push her former friends over the edge. She would start with Hope. If there is one thing that Hope cares about, it’s her paintings the ones she made with her father before he died.   
Josie decided that she would start a fire in Hope’s room, so all the things in her room would burn, but what the other’s didn’t know was that Josie had taken all the things Hope found precious and hidden them. She couldn’t do that to Hope especially because she knows how much those things mean to her.   
You see Josie made a plan after she found out about the merge. She had given up about finding a cure, so she knew what she had to do.  
She would isolate herself from her friends and family, she would make them hate her, so they would lean more towards Lizzie because Lizzie would need them for when Josie is no longer here.   
She was planning on losing the merge deliberately. Mg was the only that knew about her plan. He had tried to change her mind multiple times, but Josie wouldn’t budge. 

It was the annual flag football game against Mystic Falls High, this was Josie’s chance to start the first part of her plan, she knew that everyone would be there, which meant that she had the school to herself. Josie had decided to sit this game out, even though it would have been the perfect alibi for her, but she needed them to know that it was her or else what is the reason with the plan. The game had begun, Josie stayed for the first 10 minutes of the game before called out to Mg, “Mg, I’m going now, cover me and makes sure no one follows me inside the school, alright?”,   
“yeah Jo, I know, just be careful”.   
“I will and before I leave, could I siphon some magic from you, I need to do a teleportation spell, and those require a lot of magic since it’s an advanced spell”,   
“off course”, Josie took his hand and siphoned from it, she smiled at him before she went into the school. 

Josie was standing in front of Hope’s dorm room. Hope had used a spell to lock the door, so she siphoned from the door.   
As she entered the room, she found all of the things she needed, paintings, family pictures and so on. She laid all of the stuff in the middle of the room.   
She knew she needed a lot of magic to do this, so Josie began to siphon from a pendant Penelope had given her, Penelope had infused some magic into the pendant and had then given it to Josie, so she could use it in emergencies. She began to say the spell and all of the things teleported into Josie’s room and they would be there under a clocking spell. Josie could feel the blood dripping from her nose and her head getting dizzy, but she wasn’t finished yet. Satisfied with her work, Josie stepped outside the room and said “Ignatius”, and threw the fireball into the room before turning and leaving only to be met with emerald green eyes looking at her. ‘This was not part of the plan, but at least there is a witness’, Josie thought.  
She walked passed Penelope, she wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation right now. But before she could go any further, Penelope grabbed her wrist, “What the hell did you just do”, Penelope asked, "I just set Hope’s room on fire.“  
"Josie, talk to me, this is not you, let me be there for you”, Penelope said with pleading eyes, while whipping the blood from Josie’s face away. 

“There is nothing to talk about, this can be an example to all of you to leave me alone”,   
“try saying that again while looking into my eyes”.   
Josie raised her head and looked straight into her eyes, but before she could say something, her lips were touching Penelope’s, the kiss was lustful and short, but before anything else could happen, Penelope, pulled away and rested her forehead against Josie’s. Josie opened her eyes, looked straight into Penelope's eyes, “I need to go”.   
Penelope sighed and watched her leave once again. 

Josie entered her room and the first thing she did was to use a cloaking spell, to cloak Hope’s belongings, “Invisique”, now that was done, she thought about her kiss with Penelope ‘which wasn’t a part of the plan’, Josie’s thought was interrupted by her father’s voice ordering her to come to his office, “Josette Saltzman please report to the principal’s office, Josette Saltzman please report to the principal’s office”. 

Josie sighed and went straight to her father’s office, “close the door after you, Josette”, as she closed the door and turned around, she felt a hard hand on her cheek, “Hope”, Alaric yelled. 

Hope was standing in front of Josie looking at her teary-eyed and with a mad expression, “how could you, you knew how much my belongings meant to me, and they are all gone now because of what? Because of the lonely girl phase you have going on, so tell me, Josie, why did you decide to burn my room down?”   
“Hope please wait outside, let me talk to her alone”,   
“We aren’t done talking”, and with that Hope left the room, slamming the door after her. “Tell me it wasn’t true, tell me it wasn’t you that burned her room down Josie”, Alaric said softly. 

“It was me and I’ll do it again if I had to”.   
“Talk to me sweetie, what’s going on, why are you acting like this”,   
“why did you send mom away?”, Alaric looked at her with wide eyes and before he could answer, Josie continued, “those are both questions, we both don’t want to answer, am I right, daddy?”.   
“Josie, I don’t know, what you’re talking about, your mother was the one that left- “, “YES, because you sent her away”.

“Josie, I don’t know what you are talking about”, “YES, you do, stop lying to me for once”.   
Alaric sighed, “how did you find out?”,   
“it doesn’t matter, what matters is that you sent her away. I want to go live with mom, I don’t want to stay here any longer”.   
“Josie that’s not an option”, “then make it one.  
“Fine, I’ll make the arrangements and let your mother know”, Alaric said. “That’s all I’m asking”, Josie said with a smile. 

Josie finally left her father’s office only to be meet Lizzie standing in front of the office and looking at Josie dissapointingly.

“Hope is crying her eyes out in Penelope's room right as we're speaking. Josie, you knew how much that stuff meant to her. I don't know what's going on, but I do know that you're hurting so talk to me. I can feel what you feel remember?", Lizzie pleaded.

Josie stubborn as ever, "there is nothing to talk about LIzzie. When will you get that, not just you, but everyone? The Josie you knew is no longer here” and with that Josie left Lizzie alone in the hall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just wanna apologize cause i haven't updated in a while.  
> I hope u like the new chapter and just wanna remind u all that English isn't my first language.   
> So sorry for any grammar mistakes!   
> Have a nice day:-)

Josie was currently sitting in her father’s office pretty drunk with a bottle of scotch she had taking from his office. She knew that she wouldn’t be bothered by anyone here. 

Penelope was on a mission with Hope and Alaric and Lizzie was at a party near the old mill just like the rest of the school. It has been 2 weeks since she found out about the merge and nothing. Josie had never been so lost before in her life, so she came to the conclusion that she must lose the merge.

But she also knew this would break Penelope hence the reason she hadn’t already told her about it. And if she finally decides to tell Penelope about the merge, Penelope would tell her to fight, to fight for me and to fight for us. 

So I knew what I should do.   
Mg burst into the office, “Jo, there you are. Lizzie is looking for you”, Mg instantly knew something was wrong when he looked at Josie, mostly because she was drunk and sitting alone with a bottle, which is unlike Josie. 

So he kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder, “Hey Jo, what’s wrong, who did this to you, do I need to beat someone, do I need to call Peez”. 

Josie could feel her eyes getting wattery and began to cry, while she put her head on Mg’s chest. He instantly embraced her. Josie tried to explain what was wrong, but Mg’s couldn’t understand anything because of the muffled cry. The only thing he could understand was, “I’m going to die when I turn 22”, and that made Mg pull Josie away from his chest and looked directly into her eyes, “what do you mean Jo?”. 

And that’s when Josie decided to spill her guts to Mg because she needed it to tell someone. Mg was at a loss for words. “Mg I need your help, I need to cheat on Penelope with you, or at least make people think I did. You know her Mg, she won’t drop this if I told her about this”, 

“So what Jo, you’re going to break up with her instead, Josie that girl loves you more than anything else, this would break her”. 

“I know and I love her with all of my heart, but I also gotta makes this believable, I have a plan. So are you in or not.

Mg looked at Josie hesitantly, “alright I’ll help”. 

Josie and Mg made their way to the party, everyone was dancing, making out or drinking. They decided to hit the dancefloor, first, their dancing seemed platonic, but Josie got closer to Mg and his hands were now on her hips. Josie noticed that many of the students were looking at them and saw this as an opportunity, so she grabbed Mg by the collar and whispered, “are you ready?”, Mg nodded, and then she crashed her lips with Mg’s. 

Everyone around was shocked since they all knew Josie was dating Penelope Park, the one that everyone desired, but her heart belonged to Josie Saltzman.

When Josie heard someone say “Jojo?”, she broke the kiss and turned her head around and saw Penelope with the saddest facial expression, which broke Josie. 

But that expression quickly turned into anger, Penelope walked up to them and pointed at them with her index finger, “you two follow me” and with that, she left the party and made her way to the school.   
Mg then used his vamp speed to get him and Josie to the school were Penelope was waiting for them. 

“How could you”, she said looking at Mg, “you are supposed to be one of my closest friends, I’m away one day and you make out with my girlfriend in front of the whole school”,   
Mg tried to object but was cut off by Penelope, “save it, I don’t want to hear, now go! And you Jojo, how could you do that”, and that’s when tears began to fall from her face.

Josie swallowed the lump in her throat and said, “it’s simple, I simply don’t love you anymore. And I have thought about breaking up with you for a long time. Josie’s words shocked Penelope just as much as they had shocked herself,  
“you’re lying, it was just yesterday you told me that you loved me. So look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me”, Penelope said. 

Josie tried so hard to keep the tears from falling, she knew she had to get out of there really quick, she took a step closer to Penelope, “I lied, I mean I can’t just say thanks when you tell me that I love you, it wouldn’t totally kill the mood, we do have amazing sex”, and with that Josie turned on her heels and walked away with silent tears falling from her eyes. 

*present time*  
Josie POV  
It has been a week since I burned Hope’s room, she hasn’t tried to talk to me again since what happened at dad’s office, she won’t even look at me whenever we pass each other in the hall, and the times she does, all I’m getting is death stares. 

Lizzie and Penelope haven’t tried to talk to me either, which means my plan is working, but I just hope I’m doing the right thing here. I miss my sister, my best friend, and my girlfriend or should I say, ex-girlfriend.

A knock on the door broke me out of my thoughts, I stood up from my bed and went to open the door. 

“Dad, what are you doing here”? I asked.

“I finally got a hold of your mother”, “what did she say?”, I interrupted him.

“She said she wanted to talk to you first, so here is her number”, he gave me a piece of paper. He turned around to leave, but not before saying, “sweetie, just be sure you’re making the right decision here”, and with that, he left. 

I looked at the piece of paper in my hand, it’s been 6 years since I last saw my mother. I took my phone and dialed the number. 

“Hello”, I could feel the tears in my eyes, I can’t believe it’s actually her, her voice hasn’t changed much. “hello, is anyone there, well I know you’re there, I can hear you breathing”, Caroline chuckled.

“Mom”, I said as I let out a sob, 

“oh, baby”. 

“I want to come and live with you, I know about the merge and I can’t stay here any longer”. 

“Your dad told me, baby, I’m sorry you weren’t supposed to find out like this”. 

We talked for a couple of hours catching up and then I told her about my plan and how far I was with my plan. Mom gave me permission to come and live with her in Europe, she was currently staying in Brussels in Belgium. We then decided that I would leave the school on Saturday, it’s Wednesday today, so 3 days left. 

It’s Thursday today, I slowly began to pack my clothes, but still choose to look damn good, I don’t want to raise any attention to myself, I have thought about telling them that I would be leaving, but I don’t know how, so I’m gonna keep it to myself for now. I decided to ditch school today since I don’t see any point in going since I’m leaving in 2 days. I decided to go into town to buy some flowers for Jo (Bio mom). I want to go visit her grave before I leave. 

…  
I decided to buy some white lilies for Jo’s grave. I kneeled before her grave and laid the flowers down, 

“I may not have known you, but I’m really glad that you got resurrected on my birthday even as a zombie. I finally know what you meant, when you said that we should be there for each other, you were talking about the merge. I’m sorry that I haven't done as you told me to, but I think this is for the best for everyone. I came here to say goodbye because I’m leaving for now. I’m gonna fight for me and Lizzie, I’m gonna try to help Caroline find a solution and if that doesn’t happen, then this would be goodbye forever”,   
I say as a tear rolls down from my eyes. I stand up and turn around, to see my dad, “dad”, I say in shock. 

“what are you doing here? Were you following me?”. 

Alaric clearly still in shock over what he just had heard cleared his throat, “Dorian told me, you weren’t in class and then a student mentioned that he saw you walk out of school. I went into town and saw you come out of the flower shop. And then I followed you here”. 

“Well I’m not going back to class”, I started to walk away, 

“Josie, you know you don’t have to do this”, he said looking at me with pleading eyes”, I know” and with that, I walked away. 

After I had visited Jo’s grave, I went to my secret spot near the lake in town. I would often come here with P on dates. No one knows about this place except for us, so I know I won’t be bothered since she’s probably in class. I stayed at the lake for hours just sucking in the sweet memories that I have of this place before heading back to school, making it just in time for dinner. I went to the cafeteria where I was attacked with a big hug from Mg 

“Jo, where have you been all day”, he looked at me sweetly, 

“I was out Mg, just had some things I needed to take care of".

We went to sit at our usual table in the cafeteria, I was debating with myself if I should tell Mg about me leaving, I guess he deserves to know since he has been there for me through it all. 

“Mg”, I say with a serious tone, “I need to tell you something”, 

“I’m leaving the school in 2 days, I’m going to Europe to live with my mom”, Mg choked on his drink as I told him this, very loudly I may add, which made everyone look at us, 

“what why?”. 

“It’s for the best Mg, I can’t stay and live like this until I turn 22, I need to get away from here”, 

“are you going to let the rest know?”, 

“I don’t know”. 

Josie POV  
It’s Friday today, so some of the wolf’s decided to throw a party today, I have been contemplating whether or not I should go. You know just have some fun before I leave. I finished packing all of my stuff, I’m just waiting for the time to pass by, at least mom found a flight that left in the morning. I have decided to tell Lizzie that I’m leaving and perhaps even Penelope, but I’m not really sure about telling her. Hope is definitely a no go since she is still mad and she has every right to be so I don’t really blame her. 

* knock knock*   
I opened the door and saw Mg, hey Jo, you ready for the party?”, 

“yes, let’s go”. 

Mg kept glancing my way, like he wanted to tell me something but was afraid to do it, so I did not push him, I mean, I’m basically leaving tomorrow, so not to sound like a dick, but I couldn’t care less about what he wants to tell me. 

“Hey jo, do you want to do something else instead of going to the party, I mean it’s your last day”, he whispered the last part, 

“no I’m good, I just wanna have some fun before I leave”. 

What was that about, Mg never says no to a party? Before I could ask him, Kaleb interrupted, “hey M, glad you finally arrived, oh hey Josie, did not think you would be here today”, 

“Alright, what are you guys hiding from me?”,

”what do you mean Jo, what would we been hiding from you”, Mg chuckles nervously. 

“Well firstly, you asked me if we could do something else than coming to this part, which is weird because you never decline the opportunity to party. And then Kaleb was surprised by my arrival, so you guys are apparently hiding something”, I said looking stern between the two of them. 

I could see Mg open his mouth and then close it, but before he could say anything I cut him off, “you know what, it doesn’t matter, I need a drink, the timing is perfect for my departure, can’t wait to get out of here” and with that, I left and walked towards where the drinks were.

I finally at the drink table and poured myself a cup, I saw Lizzie talking with this guy, this was my chance if I wanted to tell her that I’m leaving. I sighed and began walking towards them, 

“Hey Jacob, could I borrow Lizzie for a second?”, 

“Yeah sure Jo”, Jacob said.

Lizzie just scoffed “great now do you wanna talk with me?”

“Lizzie look, I’m not gonna beg for you to talk to me, but I actually do have an important thing say and I think that it’s for the best if you heard it for me. 

“No Josie, you listen to me, I have been patient with you and tried to talk to you, but I'm not anymore, so whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear about it” 

and right as she said that I looked over her shoulder and saw Penelope kiss another girl, not like a peck on the lips, but a really making out sesh, I could feel the tears in my eyes so I knew I had to get out of there before I do anything stupid.

“Fine Lizzie, if you want to act like that so be it, but don’t come crying later or try to reach me, I don’t want to talk you ever again” and with that, I stormed off. 

I could hear someone yell after me, “Jo please wait up”, I stopped and turned around, “what do you want Mg? The girl Penelope was with, was she the reason you didn't want me to come today?”, 

“Yeah”.

“It’s alright Mg", I pulled mg in for a hug and whispered,   
“thank you Mg, for everything. I don’t know what I would have done without you”, I said with tears falling down. 

“take care Jo, I’m really going to miss my best friend.  
…   
I knocked on dad’s office door,   
“Hey, dad, you in here?”, 

“Yeah come in”, I could feel the awkward tension, but I do guess it’s my own fault, 

“Do you mind driving me to the airport? It’s alright if you’re too busy, I can always take a cab”, I said and turned around about to leave the room, I felt a pair of hands on my wrist, “hey baby ofc, I would drive you to the airport”, he said as he pulled me into a hug, I hugged him back, tight.   
“Thank you, dad can we go now?”, 

“Yes sweetie, let’s go”.

I stood in front of the gates to the Salvatore School for the young and gifted, not knowing when I would be returning back. Thinking about if I made the right choice if I’m making the right choice. I decided to turn my back and walk away from the place I used to call my home. 

Lizzie POV  
I was quite surprised when Josie approached me because she had pushed me away every time I tried talking to her for the last 3 freaking months. I’m done, if she doesn’t want to tell me what’s going on with her then I won’t try making her. And when she finally approached me and actually tried to have a decent conversation with me. I turned her away, I was probably harsh. I’ll look for her tomorrow and hear her out. 

My eyes cut to Mg walking back to the party after he left with Jo, wiping away tears, so I decided to go and talk to him, Mg never cries, I wonder what Jo did now?   
As I approached him, I see Penelope was standing right beside him handing him a handkerchief, she must probably have thought the same thing as me. 

“Hey Mg, what’s wrong, why are you crying and where did Josie go?” Penelope flinched when I mentioned her name, but Mg didn’t say anything. He whipped away his tears, stood up, “you’ll find out soon enough, where she went and want she wanted to tell you”, he said kind of harshly, before using his vamp speed to leave the party. 

“When did Josie leave the party?”, Penelope asked. 

“Earlier when you were talking with that chick”, the realization hit Penelope, “Lizzie do you think that Josie saw me kissing that girl?”. 

“I don’t know maybe”. 

“I think we should look for her, you know she hasn’t been herself for the past few months, what if she does something stupid”.

Penelope and I went to her room, but her door was locked, then we went to the library, the kitchen and then checked the rest of the school, but she was nowhere to be found, we decided we would ask my dad, but when we arrived at his office, he wasn’t there. We came to the conclusion that Josie must have left with dad to go somewhere, so we decided to wait for them to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wondering if u guys would be kind enough to tell me if u like the story or not- cause if u don't then there really isn't a point in continuing to write this.  
> \- Best regards K


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if there is a lot of grammar mistakes, I have been sick all day. So I haven't really had the energy to proof read this properly - please bear with me.
> 
> Btw if any of u have some advice against really bad coughing please tell me - my coughing is so bad I literally can’t sleep

Josie’s POV

I finally arrived at the airport in Brussel, I went to get my luggage and then began to search for a blonde-haired woman. Even though I haven’t seen her in years I doubt she has changed much looks-wise. I could feel someone tap on the shoulder and when I turned around to see who it was I was engulfed in a hug. “Mom”, 

“Oh, sweetie I have missed you so much”,  
“I have missed you more, it's really good to see you again mom”

“It's also good to see you again baby. You have grown so much"

"Well it has been some years since you last saw me", Josie said with a hint of sadness.

"I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have left in the first place, I should have stayed at the school and I should have fought for you and your sister”

“It’s okay mom, you’re here now that's what matters”

….  
We finally arrived at mom’s apartment and once I had settled my stuff in my new room. I made my way till mom. I wanted to ask her how her search for the cure was going if she had found another solution other than one of us turning to a heretic. I slowly approached her, “mom?”.

“Yes, sweetie”

“Have you found another solution for the merge other than one of us turning to a heretic?”

“No, I haven’t found anything else”

“That’s okay mom, we’ll figure it out. I have been meaning to ask, do you know why dad reacted the way he did when you told him about heretics? I may have read in his diary”, Josie said with a grin.

Caroline just chuckled,  
“Yeah, your dad hasn’t had the best run-ins with vampires if you could say it like that, his best friend may be a vampire and he may share or shared custody with a vampire.  
You see a vampire killed his first wife”

“The first wife, has dad been married before?”, Josie said with utter shock.

“Yes, this was a long time before he met Jo, that’s the real reason he came to Mystic Falls, he wanted to find the vampire that killed her, but he later found out that she had voluntarily turned herself so she would become a vampire and left him”

Josie was speechless, she didn’t know any of this. It made her wonder if she knew her father at all. He had kept all of these secrets from her and Lizzie. She wondered what else he had hidden from them. 

“Then he began to date your aunt Elena’s aunt, Jenna, who also got killed by vampire ironically. 

"Wow, dad has had his shares of run-ins with vampires then, he also seems very unlucky in his love life. Like every woman, he dates, gets killed"

Caroline just laughed, "yeah, if you say it like that he does seem rather unfortunate"

The girls continued to talk or rather catching up, Josie telling her about her life at the school, her friends, how Mg had been her rock through all of this and most importantly she had told her about Penelope. How she thought that she already had met her soulmate even though she's only sixteen. Caroline just listened with pure joy.

....  
No one's POV 

Alaric finally returned home from the airport and went straight to his office, he needed some bourbon. But once he entered the office he was met with two blue eyes staring at him.  
“Dad, where have you been and where is Josie?”, Lizzie could immediately sense that something was wrong just by looking at Alaric’s facial expression when she mentioned Josie. 

“She is no longer here, at the school. She decided that it was best if she left the school” after Lizzie heard that, her whole body started to feel numb. “No, no, she can’t leave, she can’t”, that’s when her body hit the floor, Alaric rushed right away to her side, hugging her tightly. 

“I know, baby”.

“You know I think she tried telling me, but I wouldn’t listen and know she’s gone. I didn’t even hear her out and she probably left thinking that I hate her”, Lizzie said as she continued to sob. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” 

“I know, but that’s what she wanted” 

A knock disturbed them, “I’m sorry to interrupt Mr. Saltzman, but can I come in, I think you might want to hear this”

“Enter Mg”

Mg didn’t quite know how he should start, seeing as he saw Alaric hugging Lizzie, tears keep escaping her eyes.

“I just wanted to let you know that Hope’s belongings didn’t burn in the fire that Josie started. She used a spell to teleport them back to her room and then used a cloaking spell to hide them. I just thought you might let Hope know since Josie isn't here anymore.  
Josie knew how much it meant to her, so of course, she wouldn’t destroy them purposefully. She just wanted you to think that”. 

Mg turned to leave and right as he was about to step out of the office, “thank you Mg, for being there for her, when I couldn’t be”.

“Yeah, no worries,” he said with a sad smile while looking at Lizzie.

Mg was on his way back to his room until he felt a pair of hands-on his wrist that yanked him to the side. Mg, let out a surprised yelp, “Peez, what are you doing?”

Mg looked closely enough at her to see that she had been crying, her mascara had been ruined, her nose was red and her voice was raspy. 

“Spill Mg right now. I want to know everything”

Mg could see that she wasn’t going to change her mind so he gave in, “okay, but let’s go to my room”.

Once they entered Mg’s room, he told her everything, how he had found Josie broken down in Alaric’s office, how she had found out about the merge, a curse placed on the Gemini coven, a pair of twins born into the coven have to undergo the merge ceremony to select their leader once they reached the age of 22. Where the stronger of the two would claim their twins' power and emerge with double the strength they previously held. The weaker twin would die as a result of that leaving the survivor to become the new leader. This meant that either Josie or Lizzie had to die when they turned 22. 

Penelope couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she was now visibly shaking, “w-why wouldn’t she tell me this Mg, I could be there for her, I would have been there for her”, Mg hurried to her side, “I know and so did she that’s why she did this. She knew if she told you, you would have told her to fight for you two or at least just for her and she might just have done that because she loves you P with all of her heart. But she couldn’t bear with the guilt that followed if she were to win, her sister’s death on her hands”. 

“There is still time, she’s only 16, we still have years’ till find a cure”

“P stop this is what she wanted. When she saw you kissing that girl at the party, her mission was complete, Hope hated her, Lizzie didn’t want to talk to her and most importantly you were moving on”. 

“Why are you telling me this Mg, she is supposed to tell me this, not you”, that’s when she began to cry.

After a while, Penelope wiped her tears away and began to stand up, “I’m gonna go after her”, but before she could move any further, Mg grabbed her wrist, “No you’re not”.

“Mg, let go”

“Not before you listen to me, you’re not going to go after her. You gotta let her do this her way, there was a reason in the first place why she didn’t tell you. Let her go P, at least for now. I know you think you guys are meant to be, she thought the same thing. But if you’re destined to be together you’ll find your way back to each other eventually”, and then he let go of her wrists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope u guys like this chapter and I'm sorry if u guys thought the chapter was too short  
> Have a nice weekend:-D


	5. Chapter 5

6 months have passed since Josie left the school. The rest of the school was quite surprised when they heard the news, but weren’t surprised in the end after all that has been happening.   
The students would have been fools if they hadn’t noticed it. The student was also witnesses to the change in Penelope's demeanor. It had changed within 6 months. She had become the new HBIC which meant she was butting heads with Lizzie these days which didn’t bother her at all.

It may sound childish, but she and Lizzie had become enemies after Josie had left them. Penelope meant that it was Lizzie's fault that Josie left. Josie had spiraled down so far down the codependency hole because of her. She had left no room for Josie which in the end made her feel like that she had to sacrifice herself for her twin. So ever since she left, Penelope had given Lizzie a run for her money. Always taking a jab at her every time the opportunity arose for the occasion. 

The election for the honor council was announced.   
Lizzie was in full campaign mode or rather full victory preparation mode. She had already decided that she was going to be the witches’ representative. But little did she know that Penelope also decided to run. 

Lizzie was on her way to meet with some fellow witches to try to persuade them to vote for her until she suddenly stopped walking because she heard her name, “Lizzie Saltzman only cares about Lizzie Saltzman. I personally believe that you deserve a better candidate”, that made Lizzie furious especially because she recognized the voice saying them.

“And who would that be? You?”, Lizzie said as she crossed her arms.

“Actually, yes I am. Cause unlike you, I do actually care about my fellow witches and not only interested in what benefits me, but all of us”.

“So you’re running just to spite me?”

“Now that’s just an added bonus” with that Penelope stood up and ready to leave, “see you around witches”. 

Lizzie just scoffed and immediately left the room. She thought this was getting ridiculous, Penelope had taken jabs at her nonstop for the last 6 months. She was done with this. It was her turn to get even with Penelope.  
After their interaction in the common room, Lizzie left with a plan in her mind.  
...

All of the students had gathered together in the common room to cast their vote. The wolves would be the first ones to vote, next would be the vampires and last the witches.   
As the last vamp had voted, Penelope stood up, she was the first witch to vote and that’s when it happened. 

She felt something cold and gooey all over her. The only laughter you could hear was Lizzie’s echoing through the room and maybe a few snickers from the wolves and the vamps.   
But the witches were in shock who dared to make a fool out of the HBIC. Everyone was silent as well curiously waiting for Penelope to retaliate back against the person who did this to her, but they already knew the answer, so they just waiting for her to attack Lizzie, but to their surprise, nothing happened. Penelope took a deep breath and took a step forward smirking as always.

“My fellow witches and co. are Lizzie Saltzman who you want as your representative. I mean look” while pointing at herself, “she doesn’t even think that she can win why ells stoop so low to make a fool out of me. How can you put your trust into someone who doesn’t believe themselves? Yeah, I could get back at her for doing this, but that wouldn’t make me any better than her. So my fellow witches think clearly about who you would want as your representative while I go and change and remember vote wisely”. Penelope got down from the podium and was on her way to leave the common room, but not before turning around and winking at Lizzie which just fumed the blonde witch more. 

Penelope was in the hall when she heard someone say, “you know, you didn’t have to say all of those things that’s a little low even for you”.

“Hope, glad to see you stepped out of your antisocial bubble and decided to join us”. Hope didn’t answer, so Penelope just scoffed before speaking again, “maybe you’re right I didn’t have to, but was I wrong? I mean she slimed me in front of the school. And don’t start talking about my behavior towards her, you’re not better yourself. You have been distant and cold ever since she left and shutting us out. Why are you even mad, you weren’t even speaking to her and you got all of your precious belongings back. 

Hope knew this was a sore subject for Penelope, she also knew that she was only acting like this because of it. “Yeah, I got my stuff back, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care”.

Penelope just huffed, “do you?”

“She was my best friend and I didn’t even see her hurting. To think she went through all of this alone with none of us. Mr. Saltzman doesn’t want to talk about it when I ask him about it. I have used every tracking spell that I could find to try and locate her, but nothing. She doesn’t want to be found”

Penelope was looking surprised at her, “so what we’re just gonna wait for her to show up when it’s time for the merge?” 

“I don’t know, I really don’t” 

… 

“All of the votings are now closed, so let’s get started” when Emma said that all of the students starting applauding and whooping. “The werewolf representative will be Rafael”, the wolves began to bark and cheering.   
“Alright, settle down, thank you. And next up, the vampire representative will be Kaleb”, which made the vamps cheer “whoooo, go Kaleb”. “And last, the witch representative is Penelope”, louder cheering echoed when her name was mentioned. 

“Thank you for voting, and congratulations to our new representatives”. 

Lizzie was fuming and stormed out of the room while Hope and Penelope watched her leave.   
“Are you going to talk to her Pen?”

“Yeah”, and with that, she left and went looking for the blonde.

Lizzie was in the gym taking jabs at the punching bag when she heard someone say, “it’s sweet of you not wanting to hurt the punching bag”, Lizzie turned around and saw Penelope smirking at her.

“You wanna take its place instead and then I’ll try to punch a little harder”

“Don’t blame me for losing, it’s the rest of the witches who knew you would be bad at this job”

“And you do, you never do anything unless it’s for your own benefit”, Lizzie took a deep breath before continuing, “why have been after me these last past 6 months? Do you really hate me that much? Was it all for a show when Josie was still here, you pretending to be my friend. You’re not the only one hurting I am too”.

“It’s not always about you, don’t you get that. It’s about how you treated Josie”

“I loved my sister”

“You were suffocating her, you left her no room for herself, she spent all of her energy and time taking care of you. She was willing to die for you, still is. Have you ever thought about losing the merge on purpose, I don’t think you have, but she had that’s why she left. She made all of us hate her so we could be there for you when the time came”. 

Lizzie didn’t really know what to say. “Spare yourself I don’t wanna hear it” and with that, she left the gym.


	6. A solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize beforehand for any grammar mistakes :)

Josie had been faring well for the last six months considering everything that has happened. She had taken advantage of the time and spent the last couple of months bonding with her mom. To be honest they hadn’t thought about the merge. They haven’t found a solution for the last 16 years so to postpone it for merely 6 months wouldn’t hurt them.

Bonnie had come to town to visit Caroline when Josie heard the news, she was thrilled cause it had been ages since she last saw her aunt. But she also saw this as an opportunity to ask Bonnie about Jo, her bio mom and even her ask her about Kai Parker.

Caroline and Josie were sitting at a cafe sipping on some drinks. Josie has thought about asking her mom about Jo for a while. “Hey mom, I hope u don’t mind me asking, but can you tell about Jo, you know how she was before she died.

Caroline gave her a sympathetic look Before answering, “of course sweetie. Your mom decided to study medicine after she left her family. She later decided to join the army, before she left to come and teach at Whitmore college where she eventually met your dad. And you know the rest”.

Josie could feel that Caroline didn’t want to talk about this, so she wouldn’t push her for now. But before they could change the subject a familiar face popped up in front of them, “BONNIE” Caroline, screamed and stood up right away to hug her best friend.  
“It’s good to see you Care, it has been too long! Oh, Josie, you're here”

“Yeah, so some things happened I guess mom didn’t tell you about”

“Yeah, clearly”, Bonnie said while chuckling.

So she said down and listened to Josie telling her about everything that had happened back in Mystic Falls. Bonnie couldn’t believe that a 16-year-old girl had so much weight on her shoulders and even to come up with a plan like this.  
“Yeah, so that happened huh”, Josie trying to ease the tension. Bonnie took her hand and squeezed it, “ I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner then maybe all of this could have been avoided. You know you're parents wants what’s best for you and Lizzie”.

“I know aunt Bonnie, I’m also over them not telling me. After all, life is short, so I have to make most of it”, Josie said giving her a reassuring smile. She also saw this as her chance to get the information she wanted,  
“But since you're here aunt Bonnie, I would like to ask you some things if that’s all right with you”.  
“Of course, ask away”, Bonnie said while giving Caroline a weird look.

“Since you're a witch did you ever do magic with Jo? And how was she, as a witch”.  
“Oh, uhm I didn’t do magic with her”, “what do you mean?”, Josie cutting her off right away.  
“Well you see, when we first met your mom, she was human and by that I mean she didn’t have any magical powers”.  
“How? That’s impossible”, Josie cutting Bonnie off once again.

“Maybe that’s enough sweetie, Bonnie just got here, I don’t see this as the right occasion to ask her all of this”, “of course it isn’t, but when will it ever be”, Josie said angrily.

“If you’ll excuse”, she said as she collected her jacket. “Josie, wait where are you going?”, “away from here. I’ll let you catch up”, and with that, she left the two friends alone.

“You don’t think, we should tell her?”, Bonnie said getting all serious. “I just don’t want her to regret this later on, her magical powers are a part of her”, Caroline said with a sad expression.

“Maybe, but Care that’s not your choice to make, you guys have spent 16 years looking for a cure and nothing, you guys haven’t thought anything except if one of them turns, which is a no go”.

“I know Bonnie”.

...

Josie was sitting in the cafe across the street where they lived, sulking cause her mother had interrupted her talk with Bonnie. Josie was starring out the window just spacing out until a figure appeared in front of her, “Hey, is this seat taken?”.

When Josie looked up, she saw a handsome boy standing in front of her, he had a warm smile, his hair was a little a messy which many people think is cute. She starred right into his ocean blue eyes when she said, “yes, I’m waiting for someone”, he looked surprised when she said That, he was sure that she alone, but he wouldn’t give up right away, “can I keep you company, until that person has shown up” he said with a charming smile. Josie was just about to tell him off until she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. “There you are”, Bonnie said while grinning.

“Aunt Bonnie”,

“am I interrupting something?”

“Not at all, he was just about to leave, weren’t you?”

The guy looked between at them and could clearly see that they knew each other and that Josie wasn’t lying when she said that she was waiting for someone. “Yeah, I guess I’ll see you around then” and with that, the boy left the two of them alone.

“I gotta say you have perfect timing, aunt Bonnie”, Josie said with a big smile, “but what are you doing here and where is mom?”

“Your mom had something she needed to care of so I thought that we could continue our conversations if you would like that, but first tell me about that guy, who was he?”

“To be honest I don’t know, he just showed up out of the blue a few minutes ago, asking if he could join me”, “and I guess you declined his offer”, Bonnie continued.

“Yeah, I’m not looking for something right now, I’m still nursing a wounded heart”

“Miss Penelope Park, I do remember you being head over heels for her and her for you. But don’t you think its time to move on and get out there again”.

“No, it’s not that easy, we were only together for a year, but I could already imagine our lives together, how we would move in together when we got older, getting into arguments about stupid things, getting married and start a family and eventually grow old together in mystic falls. And I’m still hurting every day, every time I see something that reminds me of her or hears a song I know she liked cause it all reminds me of her. It’s not that easy to move on from the person that you thought was your soulmate”.

Bonnie was speechless but was still smiling fondly at what Josie just told her and if that’s how her niece felt then she would support her no matter what.

“How about we talk about something else like me continuing my story before Care interrupted me?”, “ I would mean like that aunt Bonnie”.

“When we first met Jo, she didn’t have any magical powers. She had relinquished her magic in a knife which she had hidden from your uncle Kai, which meant they weren’t able to perform the merge because she didn’t have any magic he could siphon from and that’s when the coven stepped in and trapped Kai inside the prison world with the help of my grandmother”. Josie took a minute to process what she just heard, “that’s it then! What if I do the same thing then I won’t have to merge with Lizzie and none of us will die”.

“You could do that, but are you sure, you will be giving up your magical powers. You won’t be a siphoner anymore, are you willing to give that up?”

“I am if that means that we won’t have to go through the merge, then yes I will give up my magical powers”.

“I was afraid that you will say that”.

“So will you help me do it?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took a little bit longer to update, I have been really busy with work.

Josie had been ecstatic ever since Bonnie had agreed to help her to relinquish her magic. They had been prepping and making sure they had everything they needed to do it. Josie had just entered the living room, still in her checkered pj’s, having just woken up and being too lazy to change, “good morning guys”, Josie said while yawning. 

“Good morning Jo, you ready for today?”, Bonnie asked. Josie looked over at her mother, Caroline had been very quiet these days, she was happy that they had found a solution, but wished that it had been another solution. She didn’t find it fair that Josie should be the one to sacrifice her magical abilities. Besides Lizzie should also have a say in this. But this also meant that she could return home now after all Lizzie was also her daughter and she had missed her so much. People you used to say that Lizzie was her little twin especially when it came to looks that’s what they were told by people at least. 

“Yeah, I’m happy. I’m going to miss my abilities no doubt about that, but I do think it’s something I can move on from. I’m just afraid to go back, I mean facing Lizzie’s wrath, who wants to experience that?”, Josie tried to joke. But deep inside Josie knew that this wasn’t the real reason, but a certain ex-girlfriend. How could she look Penelope in the eye again, after all of the hurt she had caused her. And she had probably already moved on, she was a catch after all, who wouldn’t want to be with her.

“The full moon is today, so we’ll do it at night when the moon shine at it brightest”, Bonnie exclaimed.

…

It was a normal day at Salvatore school. The air between Penelope and Lizzie has been cold since their last confrontation. Penelope hasn’t been making any remarks towards Lizzie since that day she had in fact just been minding her own business and ignoring the blonde. She has said what she felt that needed to be said. The only thing she could do now was just focusing on her future, graduate and get away from Mystic Falls.   
Penelope had even tried to convince her parents to let change schools, but her parents wouldn’t let her. 

Penelope was currently on her way to the gym to release some seam, just letting the anger flow out of her. She had been pissed ever since her parents told her that she couldn’t change to another school.  
She entered the gym and could hear someone punching on a punching bag in there, “of course you’re here”, Penelope said through gritted teeth.

“The feelings mutual satan”. Lizzie hesitated for a second before continuing, “how are you, you have been rather quiet these days”, Penelope looked bewildered for a second, but gathered her posture before answering, “never been better”, she answered sarcastically. 

“Good to know satan, I was just wondering- aah”, Lizzie screamed. She crouched down on the floor, “NO, no, JOSIE”, Lizzie yelled.

That got Penelope’s attention and she ran down to her, “Lizzie, Lizzie”, she said trying to get her attention, “Saltzman look at me! What’s happening”. 

“It’s Josie, I-I can’t feel her anymore”.  
Penelope felt like she had been punched in the stomach when she heard that, “what do you mean, you can’t longer feel her?”.

“We are magically linked Penelope for god's sake. When I can’t feel her anymore that means something has happened to her or worse she’s dead” when Lizzie said that last word, it hit her and she began to sob louder. “She’s dead, no, no, she can’t be. Penelope get my dad NOW”, Lizzie screamed.   
Penelope ran as fast as she could to Alaric’s room and knocked hard until he opened the door, “Penel- “listen to Mr. Saltzman. You need to come with me. Lizzie is crying in the gym and keeps screaming that Josie is dead”, Alaric grabbed her shoulders and held her tight, “what do you mean Josie is dead?”. 

“I-I don’t know, she keeps saying she can’t feel Josie anymore and that means she’s dead. But that’s not possible is it Mr. Saltzman?”

“I need to get to Lizzie right now”, he let go of Penelope and ran straight towards the gym. When he entered the gym and saw Lizzie on the floor, he hurried down to her, so he was on his knees and hugging her. 

“Dad, Josie is dead. I can’t feel her anymore. One minute she was fine and the next minute I couldn’t feel my connection to her anymore”.

“No, she is not, she is okay. She wouldn’t let that happen”, the last part was more for him than it was for Lizzie, but Caroline wouldn’t let anything happen to Josie. Penelope was standing a few feet away from them watching, heard him say that, but she couldn’t question him right now. 

Alaric stood up, “Penelope stay with Lizzie. I’ll be back in a few minutes” and then he ran out of the gym. Alaric hurried to his office, took his phone and dialed an overseas number, “NO reply, you got to be kidding me”, he dialed again “take the damn phone Caroline”.

“Alaric”, he released a sigh, he didn’t know he was holding, when he heard her voice. He took a deep breath before saying, “Caroline what the hell is happening back there. Lizzie keeps telling me that she can’t feel Josie anymore which is impossible unless if she is dead, so tell me what the hell is going on?”.

“You may want to sit down. What I’m about to tell you is heavy”, Caroline started. Alaric knew that yelling at her, asking what she meant wouldn’t help at all in this situation, so he tried his best to stay calm, “all right I’m sitting down. Please continue”.

“Bonnie came to town for a visit, which piqued Josie’s interest. She wanted to know more about Jo, so she kept asking Bonnie how Jo was as a witch and Bonnie might have told her that Jo didn’t have any magic when we met her”. “Yea, because she had relinquished it in a knife, I remember”, Alaric interrupted. “Wait, don’t tell me she did the same thing”, he continued. 

“She did, I tried to talk her out of this Ric, but she wouldn’t listen. So the reason that Lizzie can’t longer feel her is that they are no longer connected”. 

“How is she holding up then, magic was a big part of her life and a big part of her”  
“To be honest, she’s holding up well”.

Alaric sighed, “what do I tell Lizzie, the reason you can’t feel your sister anymore is because you aren’t connected since she doesn’t have her magical abilities anymore”.

“WHAT?”, Alaric turned his head to see Penelope and Lizzie standing in the doorway.


	8. Chapter 8

“Lizzie”, Alaric said sounding surprised. “I’ll have to call you back, Lizzie just showed up, goodbye Care”. Alaric turned to Lizzie and Penelope, “I think you have something explaining to do dad”, Lizzie said while crossing her arms. “I do, you may want to sit down”. 

“I’ll leave the two of you alone”, Penelope said while making her way towards the door, “please stay”, Lizzie said grabbing her arm, “you deserve to hear this just as much as I do”, she said with a sincere smile. 

“Okay, I’ll stay”, Penelope answered back with a genuine smile. That was the first time that the former friends have looked at each other genuinely in months. 

Alaric told them everything, he started by telling them about the merge because that’s what started it all. Then he continued to tell them how Josie had found out about it and the real reason why Caroline left and how’s Josie is currently with her in Belgium right now. And the reason that Lizzie can’t longer feel her is that they aren’t maniacally linked anymore because Josie decided to relinquish her magic. 

After Alaric had told them all of that, the girls remained silent, they were both processing all of this information. Penelope didn’t really know if she should say anything, after all, Mg had already told her about the merge, she felt a little guilty knowing this and not telling either of them or at least Lizzie.

The first one the break the silence was Lizzie, “so you’re telling me that Josie is with mom right now, the one we haven’t seen in years because you decided to send her away”, she stood up from her chair, “oh let’s not forget we are cursed, which you have been hiding from us all of our lives and one of us have to die”, Lizzie practically yelled at her father. 

“But you’re not”, Penelope said. Finally looking up at Lizzie. “Your father just said that Josie has relinquished her magic therefore there isn’t magic left for you to absorb”.

“That’s correct. The merge isn’t happening baby. Jo found a solution”. 

Lizzie's eyes softened, her lips began to quiver and she surged forward and launched herself in her father’s arms. She began to sob. "I-I miss her so much Dad anI can't feel her anymore, I feel like I'm missing a part of me".

“Do you know if she is going to return to the school?”, Penelope asked. Alaric looked up at her, “to be honest I don’t know, Penelope. And I’m not going to push her to come back either. I think the best thing to do is to give her time and if I know her right, she probably also feels guilty about everything she did, you know how she is”.

“You’re probably right”, Penelope said while sounding defeated.

“If you’ll excuse me”, Penelope stood up and left them alone in the office. Alaric was right, Josie needed time and Penelope was going to give her that. When she left that office, she decided that she was going to turn a new leaf, make up with her former friends and stop with poking Lizzie.

...

Penelope was currently reading, “Calling Me Home”, by Julie Kibler, when she heard someone knocking on her door. Confused to who would be knocking at 1 am. She stood up and went to open the door. “Lizzie”, she said surprised, “what are you doing here?”.

“Can I come in?”, she opened the door wider and moved to the side. Lizzie walked in, taking in her surroundings at the same time. Penelope closed the door and turned to look at her. 

“I’m sorry” Lizzie started. Penelope was staring at her confused as to why she would apologize. At least she couldn’t think of any reason for her to apologize. Lizzie continued, “I’m the reason she left and you’re hurting because of it. If I had been more obvious to my surroundings and as to how I have been acting in general, maybe she wouldn’t have left then. I know that I can’t change the past, but I’ll like to change my future, I don’t want her sacrifice to be in vain. So for now, I’ll try to stop being selfish and be more selfless starting now. And I’m only going to say this once so listen carefully Park, I’m sorry and I hope we can move past this and actually try to be friends again”, Lizzie said while watching Penelope’s reaction cautiously. 

Penelope, on the other hand, was standing there dumbfounded, she didn’t know if she heard Lizzie Saltzman apologize to her. She of course also heard all of the other things, but she really didn’t know what to say.   
“I-I think I’ll like that” Penelope said genuinely. “It has been tiresome taking jabs at you”, she said playfully. 

“Oh shut up, by the way, did I make the Penelope Park stutter”, Lizzie said while laughing.

“No”, she answered back trying to look mad but ended laughing with Lizzie instead. 

…

Alaric was sitting in his office with a glass of bourbon. He decided to dial Caroline again. 

“Hello Alaric”

“Hey Care”

“So I take it that you talked with Lizzie-”, “and Penelope”, he interrupted. 

While in Belgium, Caroline was sitting in the living room with Josie beside her while the phone is on speaker and she heard her dad say that. Her eyes widened, her mother laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little bit. Josie motioned for her mother to continue, but still not letting him know that she was listening to the conversation. “How did they take it?”.

“Lizzie took it the hardest, but that’s understandable of course and Penelope was rather calm but asked if Josie is coming back to school. I think she misses her a lot”. 

Josie could feel her eyes starting to get watery, but she also knew that she couldn’t return back to the school, not now at least. She isn’t ready to face them yet. Caroline didn’t really know what to say, so Alaric continued, “but Lizzie is going to be alright and I’m going to be there for her properly and you should be there for Jo. And once she’s ready to return home I would like it if you returned with her”. 

Now Caroline was the one with tears in her eyes, “I would like that Ric”. She ended the call and turned around when she heard a sob, she instantly took Josie in her arms.   
"It's okay baby, everything will be alright again, one day".


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope everyone is safe.
> 
> I just wanted to say sorry, I know I haven't updated in a while. I kind of had writer's block and had a time writing this without it feeling like an end.

A year and 3 months have passed, the twins have just had their 18-year-old birthday. Josie and Caroline had decided to stay in Europe after Caroline’s call with Alaric. Caroline could finally relax after 16 years trying to find a solution and Josie had been going to a mundane school while Caroline became a recruiter for the school. Both were very happy with their current lives; Josie had just graduated from high school.

They were both currently sitting in the living room, when Caroline handed her an envelope, “what is it?”, Josie asked as she took the envelope, slowly opening it. “It’s your graduation gift a pair of ticket flights to Mystic”. 

Caroline could see that Josie's shoulder’s tensed when she said that. Caroline reached out to grab one of her hands into her own, “listen, sweetheart, I know you said you needed time, but I think it has been long enough. You can’t just postpone the inevitable, so I say, let’s face them together”.

“I know mom, but it’s much easier to avoid it all”. Josie took a look at the tickets to see when they were leaving, which were soon. “I should go and begin to pack”, Josie said as she stood up and went to her room. Deep inside she knew that her mother was right and arguing with her, wouldn’t change things. 

…

Caroline had told Alaric that they were going to come Mystic falls. Alaric was currently on his way to Lizzie’s room, he wanted to tell her the good news. 

He knocked on the door, “come in”, he entered to see, Lizzie, Mg, Hope, and Penelope trying to fix a 1000 piece puzzle, he smiled at the view, but then he remembered why he had come to the room in the first place. “Lizzie can we talk under four eyes?”, he asked. Lizzie who was so focused on trying to fix the puzzle, “can’t you just say it, dad, if I get distracted now, I’ll never finish this”.

“It’s about Josie and your mom”, Alaric would like to have avoided it saying it in front of the others, since it still was a touchy subject. 

Lizzie looks surprised at her dad, before taking a deep breath, but before she could say anything, Penelope butted in, “it’s okay, Mr. Saltzman we will leave you two to it”, “that sounds like a good idea”, Hope piped up. 

“No guys wait. We all care about her, you also deserve to hear what he has to say”, then she motioned for her dad to continue. 

“Okay, so the thing is that Josie is returning with Caroline, she didn’t say when they would be here, except that they are coming this week and I just wanted to let you know since things ended the way they did. Also maybe you shouldn’t ask her about her power or anything related to that. From what I have been hearing from Caroline, Josie has moved on, and has just graduated high school like you guys”. Alaric could see that they were all shocked but also figured that he should leave so they could process it.

He got up and left the room. “Well I thought there would at least go 10 years before had a reunion”, Mg joked, trying to ease the tension in the room, “not the time”, Lizzie hissed back at him. ‘Sorry’, he mouthed back. 

“Oh wow”, Hope said before continuing, “I knew we eventually would have to see her again, I just didn’t know that it would be so soon yknow”, “yeah”, Lizzie agreed. 

“Could you please excuse me guys”, Penelope said as she stood up and left the room. Mg was getting on his feet ready to follow her, but Lizzie grabbed his wrist, “leave her be, just give her some time, she did take it harder than any of us”, she added. 

… 

Penelope was curled up in the corner of the library when Alaric found her. They have gotten close since last year; he saw her as a daughter whom he cared for really much. He hesitated, before saying, “do you want to talk about it kiddo”, Penelope looked up from the book she was reading, “no”. He walked closer to her and sat down beside her, “unless, we are drinking a glass of bourbon of more, then I won’t mind talking about it”, she gave him a genuine smile, his laughter echoed through the library, “sure, I guess I can make an exception”.

There were both in Alaric’s office, Penelope on her third glass and Alaric on his second, he had taking drinking down a notch and was now looking worriedly at Penelope. 

She drank the rest of her bourbon, “could you pour me another glass?”, she said while holding her cup up, “I think you have had enough”, Alaric said as he took the cup from her.

She sighed, “I don’t know how I should feel. I know things ended between us a long time ago, but I just can’t move on, I think I still need closure because I don’t feel like I got it when she left or when we broke up. And I think that’s why it has been so hard for me to move on properly and now that I know that she is coming. I don’t know to feel. Should I feel relieved, should I feel sad, happy?”. 

Alaric got up and moved closer to Penelope to pull her into a hug, “I don’t know, I don’t think you would want my advice when it comes to love, every woman that I have loved is dead now. I-“, a knock on the door interrupted them, Alaric looked up, curious to see who it could be at this hour, “come in”.

The door slowly opened and Caroline came into view with Josie behind her. He stood up and looked at them shocked, “Caroline, you’re here already”. 

Caroline just chuckled, “yeah, we missed home, so we took an earlier flight”. 

“Hi dad”, Josie said taking a step forward so she was standing next to Caroline instead of behind her. Penelope looked just as shocked as Alaric had.   
They were standing in awkward silence, no one knew what they should say, so Caroline opened her mouth, “It’s to me- “. 

“I should probably go and leave you guys to it, it seems like you have a lot to discuss”, Penelope said as she walked out of the office, her arm brushed Josie’s on the way out.


	10. Reunions and a new beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I hope you all have been well under these circumstances and have had a good easter:-)

As the door closed after Penelope had left the office, Josie sighed and turned so she was standing face to face with her father. Alaric took a step forward, not quite sure if he should hug Josie or not. Josie could see he was hesitant and decided for him by engulfing him in a hug. “I have missed you so much, dad”, Alaric could feel his shirt get wet and squeezed tighter, “I missed you too pumpkin”. 

Josie knew that her parents also needed to talk, so she stepped away from Alaric. “If it’s okay with you, I would like to go and see Lizzie”. 

“Yeah of course”, Alaric answered. Josie then left the office and made it to her old room. Caroline stayed behind, thinking she would go and see Lizzie after they have talked.

Right as Josie left the room, Caroline used her vamp speed and hugged Alaric, who had tears in his eyes now. “I’m so sorry Care, I had no right to take them away from you. I have missed you so much”. He may not have romantic feelings for Caroline, but he still cared deeply for her. 

Caroline shushed him, she broke the hug so she could take a look at him, see how he had seasoned from the last time she saw him, she caressed his cheek, using her thumb to remove the tears that had slipped his eyes. 

“It’s okay Ric, I may not agree with how you handled things, but I do understand why you acted as you did. You were looking out for our girls and you have done an amazing job. Josie is lovely, caring and always help others and I can’t wait to meet Elizabeth. 

… 

Josie was standing in front of what once was her room. Debating whether she should knock or not. She decided that she might as well rip the bandage off and decided to knock. 5 seconds later the door opened, blue eyes met brown ones before Josie could say anything, a hand had made contact with her right cheek. Josie touched her cheek, shocked to react, but she understood her sister, she wasn’t welcome, so she turned, ready to walk away, but Lizzie grabbed her wrist and pulled her against herself so she was hugging Josie. “Don’t you dare do anything like that again Josette”, she sobbed, which made Josie sob. 

They pulled away and Lizzie went to lay on her bed motioning for Josie to come and join her. Josie joined her on the laying next to her sister, both starring at each other, “so the merge isn’t happening anymore”, Lizzie started before continuing, “thank you, Jo, because of you we both will be able to live past 23. I do wish that you had told me about the merge and what you were planning before running away”.

“I know, I’m sorry for running away and acting like a bitch to all of you. I don’t what you to feel guilty, I honestly don’t mind not having my powers anymore. I have already figured out what I want to do for the rest of my life”. Josie grabbed Lizzie's hand, “I want to take over for dad someday and continue his legacy by running the school with you by my side unless you want to do something else”.

“I would love that”, Lizzie answered. 

Josie got up from the bed, “where you going Jo?”, “come follow me, there is someone that I want you to meet”. Lizzie followed Josie out of the room. Lizzie recognized the direction that they were going in, “why are we going to dad’s office”, Josie didn’t answer but instead opened the door to the office, so Lizzie could see for herself. 

“Lizzie entered the office and looked around until her eyes landed on a familiar face she hadn’t seen in ages. “Mom” and ran to hug her, Caroline opened her arms captured Lizzie in her arms. “I’m here, I’m home baby”. 

Josie went back to her room there had been enough reunions for one day. She thought about what had been haunting her the whole night, the look on Penelope’s face when she saw her, but she didn’t blame her cause Josie would probably have done the same thing. 

Lizzie returned later at night with the biggest smile in her face, “thank you for bringing mom home”, “you should thank her, she brought me home”.

Lizzie laid down next to her sister, “have you talked to p yet?”, “no, but I saw her in dad’s office when we first arrived. She excused herself and left the office. She looked so hurt and broken, has she been like that the whole time I have been away”.

Lizzie looked at her sister with pity in her eyes, “no, not always. Some days have been better than others, she did try to move on, she was always hooking up with someone at a party, she even tried to be in a relationship, but in the end, it didn’t work out. I guess it’s hard to make something work if you always compared to what you once had”. 

Josie just nodded. They both fell asleep after some time.

… 

Just like Josie had, the Salvatore’s seniors had graduated, so many of them were packing and preparing to start the next chapter of their life. So when Josie finally got the courage to leave her room and made way to the cafeteria, but stopped when she saw Penelope sitting her friends or as Josie would like to call them her minions. One seemed to be extra touchy with her, but Josie didn’t have a say. 

“Is that Josie Saltzman I see”, Josie turned around a smile on her lips, “Mg”, she walked towards him and hugged him, “God I have missed you Mg”, “Likewise Jo”, Mg said grinning. 

“So you’re not eating in the cafeteria today?”, “no I lost suddenly lost my appetite”, Mg looked over her shoulder to see what she was referring to, instead of commenting on it he said, “well do you care to join me on a walk in the garden?”. “I would love to”, and with that, they walked away from the cafeteria and made way towards the garden. 

Penelope was eating breakfast surrounded by her minions, she didn’t focus on anything they were saying, all she was thinking about was that Josie had returned and she looked great, the years had been good on her. She didn’t know if she had imagined it or not, but when looked at the entrance to the cafeteria, she could see Josie and Mg laughing together while walking away. 

She stood up, muttered an excuse before leaving the table to go outside maybe a breath of fresh air would clear her mind. 

Penelope was walking around in the garden, when she bumped shoulders with someone, “I’m so sorry I- “, she hears someone say, brown eyes she knew too well blinking back at her. 

“I’m so sorry”, Josie repeats herself “I’m sorry”. She waits for Penelope to turn around and walk like she did last night, yell at her, slap her cause that what she deserves. 

Penelope just stands still, so just as Josie was about to say something probably apologize again, Penelope took a step forward and said, “I’m Penelope”, “I’m sorry?”, Josie asked confused. 

Penelope just shoved her hand in front of Josie, “my name is Penelope Park, I just graduated from here. What’s yours?”, Josie stood frozen for a couple of seconds not sure how to react before she gets it ‘oh’. 

Josie reached out to take her hand, “I’m Josie Saltzman, I just returned here, to stay”, it took a sec or secs for Josie to understand what was happening, but she finally got it, Penelope offered her a new beginning for the two of them, a chance to start over as Josie Saltzman, a mere human and as Penelope Park. 

Penelope offered her a smile and motioned for Josie to walk beside her and together they made their way towards the Salvatore for the young and gifted and maybe a new life together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the end.
> 
> I want to say thank you to everyone that has ever read, commented and giving me kudos on this story. It's been nice to know that you actually liked this story.  
> And i also hoped you liked this chapter, I kind of got lost when i was writing this chapter, cause I didn't really know how Josie and Penelope's reunion should go, but I hope you liked how it turned out:-D 
> 
> (I'll maybe write an epilogue, but I'm not sure)


End file.
